Chapter 2 - Power of Food
Ash let out a deep breath. The bonding played out just like the instructors said. Bait your hatchling forward, ease its aggression with food, and play afterwards.
The entire ritual had only taken a few minutes and Ash watched eagerly as the second bonding commenced. Again without the large scarlet reacting.
After the second dragon, a medium purple, had successfully bonded, Ash prepared himself. As the third oldest, he was next.
The boy turned his gaze back to the remaining eight baby dragonlings across the meadow. Taking a deep breath, Ash looked hopefully at the large scarlet. Now it was up to the gods and his luck.
May the Emperor favor me today, he prayed.
Heaving up the large chunk of quartz with both arms, Ash opened his mouth to roar out. Only for everyone to wince as an ear-piercing shriek cut him off.
As all eyes gravitated towards the source, the culprit had already lunged in Ash’s direction.
"Phwwwwwhht-", a low whistle of admiration escaped one of the instructors before he clapped both hands over his mouth in consternation and quickly squatted out of sight.
A baiting attempt that was interfered with might send a hatchling scurrying back to its mother if its survival instincts overrode its anger.
Every other instructor however, didn't even bother to spare a glance at their mortified colleague. They were too busy holding their breath at the sight before them.
The current meadow-runner was the runtiest hatchling of the bunch, a slim small black. Normally to be considered the unluckiest option.
But this one wasn't running.
It was flying!
Wings flapped desperately to stay above the dewy grass as the black ball of scaled-fury raced forward.
Ash blanched as the flying dragonling reached him much faster than the previous meadow-runners. But he quickly kicked the flap open of the sack at his feet before trying to backpedal. Please, please, smell the food. Please!
It was an unanswered prayer, as awkwardly flailing wings propelled the irate dragonling over the intended distraction and straight towards Ash. Face paling, Ash side-stepped the scaly missile just in time to avoid bared fangs.
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The baby dragon let out a disappointed chuff after overshooting its target. Trying to turn and failing, the slim black tumbled out of the air.
A few instructors exchanged uneasy looks at the fall, but once the wings appeared unharmed they eagerly resumed watching to see how this would all play out.
Ash was feeling bewildered. This wasn’t how his bonding was supposed to happen!
While the dragon was scrabbling wildly to right itself on the ground, Ash retreated to place the jerky between them.
When the small black finally twisted upright to face the human again, it suddenly froze. The irate hatchling had finally noticed the size difference. Staring up at Ash, the small dragon let out a mournful, low hiss.
Relieved that things had slowed down a bit, the shaken boy could at last take a clear look at his attacker. And then a second look. He’d seen plenty of dragons back at base, but never one quite like this. It's small. And super slim. And not completely black?
The small black's scales were a dark, dark grey, deepening to black on the edges. It had a long sinuous body like a snake with short spindly legs. Not exactly exuding the rugged strength typical of dragons. Only the horned head and scaled wings were proof of its’ heritage.
While the furious hatching was glaring poisonously at him, Ash was warming up to his potential partner. It's lacking in size, but it's already capable of flying. Maybe I'll be a dragonrider faster than the others?
As his musing came to an end, Ash finally realized he was still holding up the quartz over his head. Mostly due to how his arms had both gone numb. Watching closely, the small black gave out a sad keening cry as the tall boy awkwardly dropped his arms. kawaaah...
Wincing as he lightly shrugged his shoulders, Ash slowly knelt beside the meat pile. He then set the large crystal down.
The hatchling throatily growled in response. It wasn’t until the Ash scooted away slightly that the impatient dragon hopped forward to coil protectively around the rough quartz, vigilantly clacking its teeth at the hopeful boy.
Is this one super greedy? Like in the stories?
Collecting his thoughts, Ash steadily reached out for a handful of jerky, hoping to befriend the dragon with food. Like he was supposed to.
However, the hatchling only let out a distressed hiss when the boy's hand got close. Then another, shriller one.
Alarmed, the dragoness across the meadow abruptly got to its feet with an answering snort. Stamping the ground, the adult dragon looked across the meadow towards its baby. The man next to her stood up as well, and started humming softly to distract his partner.
The instructors didn't know what to do and just watched with uneasy fascination.
Ash shivered as he felt the ground shudder, but he couldn’t stop now. Please let this work!
There was another hiss as he snatched a strip of jerky from the pile and then he dropped prone onto the damp grass with the meaty offering extended out. Ash held back a grimace of discomfort as his tunic soaked in the moisture immediately.
The slim black ceased it's hissing with cautious curiosity.
In response, the stomping across the meadow also stopped.
Its working! With things having calmed for the moment, the relieved youth started moving. Waving a distracting strip of food in the dragon’s face, Ash felt elated as the black's head rose up to bob from side to side following the jerky. I can save this.
After a minute of coaxing, the small dragon partially uncoiled while still leaving it's tail anchored to its' precious rock. Haughtily ignoring the prone boy’s presence, the black extended out to nibble on the offering in Ash’s hand.
With the power of food, Ash was finally able to reach out and touch the small black hatchling!